Rethinking Growing Old

When I was young some decades ago

Invincible youth, little did I know

Thoughts of growing old very far from my mind

Shifting sands in the hour glass always runs blind

(

Though still it flows and still it shows

Justice is blind like petals on a rose

Sand running toward gravitational forces

Never seeing as the end approaches

*

Perhaps it’s good to not knowing the future

But my time is passing, I ‘m an aging creature

Riding each wave with its ebb and flow

Seeing sand wiped clean as each one goes

*

Some say it’s great living long, growing old

But I am not so sure I would be so bold

Young ones want to live to be a hundred

As quality of life fails, time seems to plunder

*

So, as I lay my aging friend to rest, I pause,

take a deep breath, and rethink what’s best.

*

Photo: Phil Roth

Today at d’Verse, Bjorn asked us to consider John Donne’s Heroic Sonnet, The Token, written in (1572 -1631) It is an eighteen-line poem with a set meter to it. He gave us some freedom to create a little variation, while still keeping the form. I am afraid I took a little more freedom that allowed in the meter and flow but tried to keep the structure of the Sonnet as shown.

Today I received a call that a dear friend of mine passed away at the age of 96. His last years were a struggle as age took its toll. This got me to thinking about aging and growing old. So, this was the outcome of those thoughts.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Scrambling

Life is such a short span when viewed from this end

Seems like we started out together just yesterday

And then I look in the mirror and wonder who that is

staring back at me and looking like an old man

*

For years we struggled to make a living and raise a family

We passed through several lifetimes it seems

Now, in retirement, looking back, the joys and difficulties

passed so quickly and the things we worried about are forgotten

*

Now that we are at the ebb and flow we begin looking forward

again to where we are headed and what it all might mean

Time it seems is that stretch of sand between the dunes and the ocean

where we wait for the Light to show us the way to the next paradigm

*

“We are all just baby turtles

scrambling through the sand

to the ocean

that lies just beyond this moment!”

*

*inspired by a post by Cheryl at: I Am the Moment | Gulf Coast Poet

Please check out her beautiful blog. Thank you, Cheryl, for the inspiration.

This seems like such great metaphor for our lives.

Our Window to the Afterlife

“Seeing through a glass darkly,”

seems to be our view of the soul’s afterlife.

Like the Hubble with out-of-focus mirrors

we gaze. straining for a clear view,

Yet, the window remains clouded it seems,

leaving us to imagine what might exist

beyond the smokey glass of eternity.

Some claim to know from visions and revelations.

Others say they have been there, while paused,

only to return again to tell us what they saw.

It is so interesting, to me, the way we try to carry

this life into the next, thinking that

the Spirit World will be a physical transition,

rather than a Spiritual paradigm shift.

We want so badly to believe what our finite

minds can’t comprehend, so we embellish

our view, or throw it all out completely.

Either way it seems we are still in the dark…

*

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting this for Merril’s window prompt on d’Verse Poets Pub.

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Quote from; I Corinthian 13:12 KJV

“…For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

When My Spirit Rises

When My Spirit Rises

When my spirit rises

Unencumbered and free

No weight or worry accompanies me

Interesting that I value things

When in the end the spirit flies

Leaving them all behind

How much I worry and fret

But this too shall pass when I am gone

My spirit rises out of this shell

A virtual butterfly reborn

From caterpillar to chrysalis

Reborn in the image of God

Spirit Creator Redeemer Savior

Knowing there is no place for the earthly

In the spirit world beyond

I can’t take it with me

But then again… Why would I want to

When my spirit rises

Leaving it all behind

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting for d’Verse open link night, in memory of our fellow blogger, Glenn Buttkus who passed away. This is one of my favorite poems that I wrote back in 2018.

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Moving Forward (flash fiction)

It was Valentine’s Day which made the pain plunge deeper into her chest. Sophia knew the sacrifice Vlad made in the battle for Ukraine, fighting on the front-line resistance.

Her ticket was for two o’clock.

As tears ran down her face, she laid a red heart on his tomb stone. A handwritten note inside read:

We promised to love “till death do us part”

This whole last year, I could not let you go…

You were on my mind both day and night.

My grief was more than I could bear

The pain of your loss crushed

my soul… but…

‘This year’s a different thing, –

I’ll not think of you…’

as often…

I must move on to Poland

I know you will understand

My happiness is what you would want for me

You always have a place in my heart

Love,

Sophia

***

Today at d’Verse, Merril asked us to write a prose piece that includes the line, “This year’s a different thing, –I’ll not think of you.” from a poem by Charlotte Mew. It cannot have more than 144 words.

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Paint me in the Shadows

When my time has come and I am gone

Take my ashes and paint me in the shadows

Under the oak tree where memories were made…

In the shadows with the fungi and let me watch it grow

And feel the coolness of the wind floating through the leaves

*

When my time has come and I am gone

Brush me smoothly under rocks of overhanging cliffs.

Paint me in the shadows where cool water

Trickles its way gurgling neath the trees

And deer quench their thirst on hot summer days

*

When my time has come and gone

Blend my ashes onto boardwalk pilings.

Paint me in the shadows where I can hear

Excited children walking as the waves roll in

Splashing in the shadows and rolling out again

*

When my time has come and gone

Take me to the farm I loved so long ago

Paint me in the shadows of the furrows

Of rich dark dirt to nourish alfalfa roots

growing green and tall in the summer sun

*

When my time has come and gone

Paint me in the shadows of garden rocks

Where Zinnias grow tall to shade me

While bees and hummingbirds come and go

And little Wrens keep me alert with their song

*

When my time has come and I am gone

And my pigment has turned gray

Paint me in shadows of your memory

and I’ll be here to stay

*

Posting for Open Link night at d’Verse Poets Pub. Some winter reflections.

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Shredded Lives

Sadly, we have another incident of a young man, stopped by the police, ending in tragedy! Dragged out of his car the man was brutally beaten by five police officers. He died three days later in the hospital. The five police officers have been charged with murder. Bodycam video released has once again brought protesters out into the streets calling for justice. It is so sad to see this happen over and over again. When will we learn a better way to deal with our problems.

Another man dies

violently, beaten by cops.

Families’ lives shredded

*

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Musings on a January Day

Short January days seem good for reflection

Days continually get shorter for all of us

but never cycle long again as we grow older

*

I wonder if it is true that more old folks

pass away in January than any other month

Seems that way sometimes as we keep

getting messages, emails and phone calls

letting us know that friends we knew are gone

*

Looking in the mirror it makes me wonder

what the future holds for me

Will it be long and drawn out or short, quick,

and with sudden (un)expectation

I think I prefer the latter

*

No matter, I must do the best I can while I can

believing that life will be full of daily surprises

that fill my heart with love and happiness;

leaving a legacy of joy in its wake

that buoys me up and carries me along

with the ebb and flow of life’s shifting sands

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting for Open Link Night at d’Verse Poets Pub

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Light in the Darkness

Reach for the Light

Trees reach for the light

Following the sun

As it reclines on the edge of the world

Knowing that without light

There is no life

In a world filled with darkness

My soul rises toward the light

Evil presses in to overwhelm me

Terrors of darkness distract

Let your spirit rise with mine

Reach for the (sun)/son

An example for everyone to follow

Source of Light and Life

Always shining never hiding

Spirit touching spirit

Reflecting the Light of God’s Love

My escape

From the eternal darkness around me

North Carolina Bards Anthology

I am very pleased and honored to announce that my poem Shadows of Sadness was chosen to be included in the North Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology.  This poem reflects what I believe is the feeling of many in regard to what is happening in Ukraine as well as the division and violence happening in our own country.

Peace begins with you and me!

If you would like to read the poem, click on the link from my earlier post.

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/113278318/posts/28668